Electron ptychography achieves atomic-resolution limits set by lattice vibrations Zhen Chen1*, Yi Jiang2, Yu-Tsun Shao1, Megan E. Holtz3, Michal Odstrčil4†, Manuel Guizar- Sicairos4, Isabelle Hanke5, Steffen Ganschow5, Darrell G. Schlom3,5,6, David A. Muller1,6* 1School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA 2Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA 3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA 4Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland 5Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung, Max-Born-Str. 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany 6Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Ithaca, NY, USA * Correspondence to:
[email protected] (Z.C.);
[email protected] (D.A.M.) †Present address: Carl Zeiss SMT, Carl-Zeiss-Straße 22, 73447 Oberkochen, Germany Abstract: Transmission electron microscopes use electrons with wavelengths of a few picometers, potentially capable of imaging individual atoms in solids at a resolution ultimately set by the intrinsic size of an atom. Unfortunately, due to imperfections in the imaging lenses and multiple scattering of electrons in the sample, the image resolution reached is 3 to 10 times worse. Here, by inversely solving the multiple scattering problem and overcoming the aberrations of the electron probe using electron ptychography to recover a linear phase response in thick samples, we demonstrate an instrumental blurring of under 20 picometers. The widths of atomic columns in the measured electrostatic potential are now no longer limited by the imaging system, but instead by the thermal fluctuations of the atoms. We also demonstrate that electron ptychography can potentially reach a sub-nanometer depth resolution and locate embedded atomic dopants in all three dimensions with only a single projection measurement.